Next Coda webinar: Regional Accounts for Clinical Researchers (RACR)

Our next Coda Network webinar will take place on 23 June, and will look at a recent initiative from the Medical Research Council (MRC), for which the East of England has secured funding.

The challenge of retaining clinicians in research has long been recognised, and was the subject of a 2025 report published by the MRC. Now the funder has launched a programme of Regional Accounts for Clinical Researchers (RACR) designed to address gaps in support for clinical researchers at critical career pinch points, when completing their clinical training after their PhD, and on returning to research after a period in practice.

In the East of England, a £1.4m RACR has been secured by a regional consortium comprising UEA, Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group (NWUHG), Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin Universities, Quadram and the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Its goal is to build a stronger, more resilient research workforce, and seeks to ensure that clinicians stay involved in research alongside clinical practice. It will especially prioritise work focused on health inequalities in underserved communities, including areas of rural and urban deprivation such as North Norfolk and Great Yarmouth.

Prof Vassilios Vassiliou, from the UEA’s Norwich Medical School, is one of the co-leads on the project, and will be speaking at our next Coda Network webinar. He will talk about the RACR initiative, its aims, aspirations and practical implementation.

The session is open to all and will take place on Teams. To join us, contact us here for the link to the session.